Birth of a Phantom part 1

Chapter 2
Birth of a Phantom

Felix caught his breath, buttoning up the freshly stolen uniform, while Maria stuffed the torn up clothes into the hole behind her.

White lights flashed open, bouncing off light green-tint walls, revealing the expansive interior. Floors were divided into sections, resembling a mix of a shopping mall and something akin to an office area. Half of it remained dark, still under construction.

Felix walked over to the fountain, washing his face with the cold water.

A holographic interface flicked out from Maria’s watch, a thin blue screen that displayed a map of the building’s interior.

“Uh-oh…” She blurted out.

“What?” He let out a gargled breath.

“This doesn’t look like the map they gave us.”

His mismatched eyes widened slightly as he remembered the robin’s words, “Construction… they renovated the entire building. We need a plan.”

“They patched the map mid-game, but the quest stays the same.” She shrugged and spoke in a wistful tone.

“What?”

“Don’t worry about it. It’ll be more fun this way.” She pressed her watch, and the holographic projection vanished.

Maria moved forward towards the atrium, while Felix followed behind, scanning their surroundings, listening to the sound of voices and footsteps.

With measured breathing, they went deeper into the facility, darting from cover to cover, moving through the spaces where the artificial light could not reach them.

They ascended the staircase, crouched under its railing, rushing towards the first door they saw.

It creaked at the slightest nudge, Felix eased his head through it, only to pull back from the harsh brightness. They stepped into a tight corridor, the only other sound besides their footsteps and breathing were the electric hum of fluorescent bulbs.

“Where are we headed?” He asked.

Maria pulled out a knife, glancing up at a blinking camera mounted in the corner of the hall.

“A lot’s changed.” She chucked the knife towards the camera, shattering it, “But since the security cameras still work, I doubt they changed the location of the surveillance room.”

“So we take out communications and leave them blindly looking for us?”

“Yup.”

From corridor to corridor, they navigated through the many white halls as silently as possible, yet he noticed the faint sound of footsteps through the other side of the corridor.

“Go, go!” He whispered.

She opened the green door, and they were struck with an unexpected sight.

Shafts of moonlight shined down, revealing the lush greenery and blooming flowers. The faint scent of disinfectant hung in the air, mixing with an earthy aroma that seemed out of place.

“A garden?” Maria muttered.

Bushes and fauna arranged between a network of rocks, and the sound of flowing water echoed from a rectangular onyx base in the center. Perched atop it was a golden dragon statue, holding a sun, illuminated under the moon’s glow.

“What even is this place? I thought it was a shopping mall.” She whispered, staring at the statue.

“They could be making a military facility disguised as a commercial district.” He replied, looking not at the statue, but at the moon shining over them through the glass ceiling. His gaze wistful.

“That explains why it’s crawling with guards. The surveillance room should be right over there.”

Both of them headed toward the door at the far end of the room. Felix’s iron-heeled boots crunching over the loose rocks stone.

Halfway there, he stopped and raised his hand, signaling Maria to hold.

A guard in a bloodied uniform stumbled out of the surveillance room.

Felix whipped out his cobalt pistol. But before he could fire, the guard toppled into the white gravel.

“He wasn’t running toward us…” He lowered his weapon, looking at the blood pooling beneath the guard, “He was running away from something.”

Bracing himself beside the doorway, he nodded to Maria, who eased the door open. Felix moved in to strike, only for his expression to go cold.

The twitchy eyed guard’s words echoed back at him.

“Who are you? Are you with the intruder?!”

Inside was a scene of carnage. The flickering monitors cast pale, uneven light over three corpses on the floor.

“So that’s why…” He murmured.

“Looks like someone beat us to it.” Maria marched past him.

Felix swallowed, looking away.

“Queasy?” She asked, “I’ll just be a minute. Gotta kill the cameras. Keep watch outside.”

“No, I’ll be fine.” He crossed his arms.

“Suit yourself.” She said, hopping over the dead bodies, unbothered, “Hyup.”

While she combed through the consoles, two thoughts replayed in his head.

First, Maria’s words from the jet:

Only if you lived in the twelve agencies’ bubble. The world is a big place, it’s full of monsters.

Followed by the Professor’s words from that morning:

There are many monsters out there, even from projects outside our own. If you really intend to climb the ranks, your chance will start now. But I’m sure you’ll surpass them all, even David.

“Monster…” Felix weakly mumbled, the broken bulb flickering above his head. He pressed his knuckles against his chin, and winced, “Tch… bollocks.”

Maria asked, still staring at the screens, “You alright?”

“Just… from the wall earlier.” He glanced at his bruised knuckles, only to shake it, “You done?”

“Just about.”

One by one, the screens transformed into a sea of static.

“This way, we won’t have to worry about them tracking us.” She smiled with a wall of white noise behind her.

“What about tracking the other intruder?”

“If he was here, he was likely hiding in a blind spot.” She shrugged.

“Understood.” He said, pressing his back against the door.

Tilting her head, she asked, “What’s wrong?”

He said, gesturing for her to stay quiet, outside, he heard several sets of footsteps crunching against the rocks.

“Four footsteps, maybe five.” He whispered.

Trapped in a small room in an unfamiliar location, a bead of sweat rolled across his face as he aimed his cobalt gun. But Maria grabbed his shoulder.

“What are you—?”

“Shhh…” She tapped her lips, “Four means more guards, and you’re still in uniform.”

Tightening his lips, he nodded.

“Now…” Her fist sank into his gut, “Play dead.”

“Gahk!” He fell to his knees.

The guards made it to their surveillance room, they were shocked by the sight that greeted them.

One stepped forward, face turning pale as static light reflected in the pool of blood.

“Sir!” Maria’s voice trembled as she sat next to Felix, “Please, please help us…”

Blood soaked into Felix’s stolen uniform, selling the scene harder as he groaned.

Startled, the guard looked at her, “What… happened here?”

“I didn’t see… an intruder came in from behind… and shot us.”

Maria saluted, taking notice of his uniform, which appeared to be slightly different from the rest. There was a golden badge on him.

“Men, there are survivors! Come!”

“It’s alright, sir. I can carry him.” She said, putting Felix’s arm over her shoulder.

Felix groaned, and she got up with a lowered gaze, avoiding eye contact and hoping they would not be caught a second time.

As the two of them stepped out, the head guard squinted his eyes and inspected the two intruders closely, “Have I… seen you both before?”

“This one’s in bad condition, sir. He’s lost a lot of blood!” She spoke rapidly, evading the question, “We have to hurry or else he won’t make it!” She squealed as Felix vengefully pinched her shoulder tight.

“Take them to the infirmary.” A bead of sweat rolled down the head guard’s face.

“Yes, sir!” The guards shouted.

There were a total of six guards, including the head guard, accompanying them out of the garden.

While Maria carried Felix on her shoulder, one of the guards approached with a faint smile and asked, “Do you need any help?”

She lowered her gaze, “We’re good. Could you just tell us where the infirmary is?”

“It’s on the third floor, you both should take the elevator.”

“Alright, I’ll just take him to there myself.”

Both of them were escorted by one of the guards to the elevator. And as they walked, one of the guards muttered to the head guard.

“Sir, the two of them…” The guard whispered in Chinese, staring at the two agent’s torn up uniforms.

The head guard responded in Chinese, “Despite our efforts to keep the first guy from breaking out, these two managed to break in. They were the ones who massacred the guards outside and broke a hole through the iron gate. Play along. Keep your distance. Don’t get killed.” His voice quiet and measured.

Felix, who was several steps ahead, did not ignore their conversation. His eyes darted over to Maria, who seemed either oblivious or was unfazed.

She boarded the elevator with Felix still on her shoulder, but as she turned around to salute, she was greeted by the sight of several pistols aimed at her.

The guard accompanying them had a wide grin on his face as he pulled the pin out of a grenade.

“Here’s a gift, new recruits.” The guard sneered and tossed the explosive in before the metal doors could close.

Maria’s face curled into shock as the bomb flew towards them, but Felix’s silhouette appeared before her, kicking it back towards them.

“V.V.!” He yelled, and the two agents took to the sides behind the doors.

The guard’s grin faded as the explosive struck his forehead and dropped to the ground, while the rest of the men ran away in panic.

Fire and shrapnel slipped past the open doors half a second before the elevator shut tight, piercing into him.

As they began to ascend, Felix suddenly stumbled to the floor, clutching his right arm.

Maria sat next to him and noticed a dark, deep red stain on the light-brown uniform he wore, “Your arm…From the grenade?”

“Just a graze… Bullet-proof coat, remember?” He blurted as he pulled out a small bottle full of pills marked with a Golden Lion logo from his pocket.

“Painkillers aren’t gonna fix the problem at hand... or, at arm?” She giggled slightly at her own pun.

“It’s not the problem.”

“Then… what is the problem?” She asked as a drop of sweat dripped down her worried face.

“Why were they speaking English?!”

“Why are you still hung up on that?”

He let out a sharp gasp, “They were talking to each other in Chinese while they spoke to us in English… they knew we were intruders from the start…”

“Right.” She let out a low sigh, “Let’s head straight to the infirmary.”

“I said I’m fine, I’m more curious how you’re unscathed…”

“Just like you, remember? Enhanced senses, reflexes, speed and strength and all that, not to mention I’m—” For a moment, her eyes widened as she looked at him.

“And you’re…?”

She placed her hand on her hip, “I’m an Elite Agent, too.”

With a soft laugh, Felix scratched his cheek, “Ah… That’s clear now, sorry for doubting you.”

“Huh, that’s the first time I’ve heard you laugh a non-asshole-ish laugh.”

“Is that right, well if we make it through this, then you might be able to hear it again someday.” He stood up, still clutching his arm and asked, “So, we head to the central database now?”

“The garden wasn’t in our map, who knows what else they changed outdated. This place looks like an entirely different building.” Maria shook her head in dismay as the holographic display popped out.

“Then I guess we’re on our own. Take out your grappling hook.” He said, randomly tapped on the elevator’s buttons.

“Hm, why?”

“There’s gonna be a dozen guards ambushing us.” Felix pulled out his gray pistol and slotted a silencer from his hip.

“What are you doing?”

“Cover your ears.” He aimed above, “It’s still loud.”

Four cracks reverberated inside the bright, white elevator, each shot punching a hole through the hatch’s corners.

She watched him slowly lower his shaky hands, “You good?”

“Just a… just a graze…” He winced, rolling his shoulder.

With the hatch damaged, he holstered his gun under his coat and climbed up the sides, pushing it open, “They at least won’t be able to use this elevator.”

Hanging from the elevator shaft, he extended his hand. Maria smirked and took it.

Ding.

The elevator stopped. The metal doors parted, and a storm of gunfire began to tear it apart.

Bullets shredded metal and wiring in a nonstop barrage. For ten straight seconds, five guards emptied their rifles with breaths held tight.

One of them tossed a grenade.

Boom — fire and shrapnel erupted, shaking the steel cage.

As soon as it stopped shaking, the barrage finally stopped. They finally began to breathe. Gunpowder drifted out, darkening the air.

Weapons raised, the five-man squad advanced in tight formation, slowly creeping into the ruined elevator, scanning for a target. No bodies. No blood. Only smoke curling towards a shaft. As they looked up, they realized their targets were already long gone.

~